How to reset your Apple Watch

The Apple Watch is a fantastic gadget that makes life easier and helps you stay connected. But like most smart tech, it can still suffer from the odd technical hiccup as it gets older. So, even if your Apple Watch has been rock-solid for a long time — maybe it’s about time for an upgrade?

If your Apple Watch has an issue or you’re planning on selling or gifting it — you’ll probably want to reset it. In our handy guide, we’ll show you a few easy ways to do this. Whether that’s with or without your iPhone.

How to reset your Apple Watch with an iPhone

Apple Watches are designed to work perfectly with iPhones. In fact, they really help get the best out of each other. So, if you haven’t synced them up yet — you’re really missing out!

You can use your iPhone to reset your Apple Watch. Before you start though, make sure that you have your Apple Watch and iPhone close together so that they’re properly connected.

If you’re resetting your Apple Watch to try and fix an issue, make sure you’ve backed it up first. This’ll let you restore your apps and data afterward so that you don’t lose anything important.

Here’s what you’ll need to do:

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone — Make sure that you're using the iPhone that's paired with the Apple Watch you want to reset.
Tap on ‘All Watches’ — This is on the top left of the Apple Watch app.
Choose your Apple Watch — You’ll see a list of the Apple Watches paired up with your iPhone. Just tap on the info (‘I’) button next to the watch you want to reset.
Unpair your Apple Watch — Click ‘Unpair Apple Watch’ to start the unpairing process. This will erase all stored data and makes it ready to pair with an iPhone again afterward.
Type in your Apple ID — If you’re using a GPS-only Apple Watch, you’ll need to type in your Apple ID password to disable the Activation Lock and complete the process. This is an important step if you’re selling or gifting your watch.*
Wait for the process to complete — We recommend backing up your Apple Watch before starting, but your iPhone will create a new backup for your watch during this step too. When erasing a family member’s watch that’s paired with your iPhone, their watch will back up to iCloud instead.
Re-pair your Apple Watch and iPhone — After the unpairing process is complete, you’ll have the option to set up the Apple Watch as new or to restore it from a backup. Choose the latter if you’re resetting your Apple Watch to fix some sort of problem. If you’re selling or gifting your watch, there’s no need to re-pair it with your iPhone.

*Please note: GPS + Cellular Apple Watches require a few more taps. If you’re trying to fix an issue and want to keep the watch, then make sure to keep your cellular plan. If you’re not keeping the watch, remove the cellular plan. When you’ve made up your mind, just type in your Apple ID to disable the Activation Lock.

How to reset your Apple Watch without an iPhone

If you don't have your iPhone with you, you can still erase all your Apple Watch's memory and settings on the device itself. Choosing this option will restore your watch to its factory settings. Just like when you unboxed it and turned it on for the first time!

This method won’t create a backup to your iPhone though — so be careful. It won't disable the Activation Lock either, as that's only possible when you unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone (like we mentioned in the section above).

If you're planning on selling or gifting your watch, then we'd highly recommend following the "with iPhone" method instead. If you don't remove the Activation Lock, then the new owner won't be able to pair your old Apple Watch up with their iPhone.

Here’s how to do it:

Open the Settings app — Find this on your watch’s home screen (the gear icon) and tap it.
Click on the ‘General’ tab — This will open a list of options. You’ll need to scroll down and tap ‘Reset’ to move onto the next stage.
Tap ‘Erase All Content and Settings’ — After clicking on this, you might be asked to enter your passcode.*
Tap ‘Erase All’ to confirm — This will reset your Apple Watch and restore it to factory settings.

*Please note: GPS + Cellular Apple Watches will ask you if you want to keep or remove your cellular plan at this stage. If you’re trying to fix an issue and want to keep the watch, then make sure to keep your cellular plan. If you’re not keeping the watch, remove the cellular plan.

How to hard reset your Apple Watch

If your Apple Watch isn’t running smoothly or stops responding, then you can do a couple of quick things to kick it back into gear. Just restarting your device might fix an annoying problem. And if that doesn’t work, then a forced restart (hard reset) could do the trick. What’s good about these methods is that won’t they erase your data. And you won’t need your iPhone to do it either.

Restart your Apple Watch

Here’s how to restart your Apple Watch:

Turn off your Apple Watch — Just press and hold the side button. The sliders will then appear, and you’ll need to tap the Power Button then drag the ‘Power Off’ slider to the right.
Turn your Apple Watch on — Hold down the side button. When the Apple logo appears, you can let go of the button.

If this method doesn’t get the results you were hoping for, you could try restarting your iPhone too.

Force-restart your Apple Watch

If your Apple Watch has frozen and can’t be turned off via the display, then you’ll have to force it to restart. To do this, you’ll need to hold down both the Digital Crown and the side button for at least ten seconds. Keep holding them together until the Apple logo appears.

How to reset your Apple Watch passcode

Sometimes, your mind just goes blank. We’ve all been there! If you’ve forgotten your passcode for your Apple Watch, you can reset it from either the watch itself or your iPhone. And then, you can just set it up from scratch again.

You can follow the tips at the start of this guide to do this. Or, you can read these straightforward steps to save some time:

Reset your Apple Watch

Put your Apple Watch on charge — Once you’ve done this, you can then press and hold the side button until the sliders appear.
Press and hold the Digital Crown — This will then show the option to ‘Erase all content and settings’.
Tap on ‘Reset’ — And after that, just click ‘Reset’ again to confirm.
Set up your watch — When asked, restore from a backup so that you don’t lose all your data.

Reset your Apple Watch with iPhone

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone — You’ll then need to tap on ‘My Watch’.
Tap on ‘General’ — After that, just swipe down and click on ‘Reset’.
Tap ‘Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings’ — You’ll have to click again in order to confirm.
Set up your watch — When asked, restore from a backup so that you don’t lose all your data.

How to reset your Apple Watch if stuck on the Apple logo

Yep, it happens sometimes. And it doesn’t mean your Apple Watch is at death’s door. All you’ll need to do is force-restart your smart watch — which is like a hard reset. We’ve explained this process in a section above, but what happens onscreen might be slightly different.

To force-restart your Apple Watch, just press and hold down the side button and Digital Crown at the same time. After a couple of seconds, the screen will go black and then the Apple logo will reappear. Once you see the Apple logo, you can release both buttons. Your Apple Watch will then restart after a few moments — so just be patient.

FAQs

What can I do if my Apple Watch won't reset?

If your Apple Watch is really playing up — where the stuck Apple logo problem persists even after you’ve force-restarted it — then you can troubleshoot using a different method. For example, unpairing and re-pairing your Apple Watch from your iPhone might fix the issue. Just follow the steps in the first section of this guide.

How do I unpair my Apple Watch from my iPhone?

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and find your watch in the ‘All Watches’ section. Tap on the info button and click ‘Unpair Apple Watch’ to begin the unpairing process. We’d recommend reading the full step-by-step process at the start of this guide for the full lowdown.

How do I remove the cellular plan from my Apple Watch?

It’s easy to remove your cellular plan at any time from your Apple Watch. You’ll need your iPhone though to complete the process. Just find your device in the Apple Watch app, and then tap on the ‘Cellular’ option. You’ll then see an info button next to your plan at the top of screen, where you can click ‘Remove Plan’. Contact your service provider to actually cancel your subscription though!

Remember the unpairing method we explained earlier? Well, you’ll also get the chance to remove the plan from your Apple Watch when you do this too. When prompted, just choose ‘Erase All’ to remove the plan.

What’s the difference between resetting and unpairing an Apple Watch?

There isn’t really. As we detailed earlier in the article — unpairing your Apple Watch from your iPhone will reset it by default. The only difference is that there is another way to reset your Apple Watch without your iPhone.

Now that your Apple Watch is back on track — why not customise it with a new strap, screen protector or wireless charging dock? And if you want to learn even more about Apple Watches, click here.